What is 764? Inside the online network now linked to South Africa

Jay Taylor, a 13-year-old boy from Gig Harbor, Washington, sought friendship and crochet companionship on Discord, a messaging and chat platform popular among gamers and online communities. Instead of finding a friend, Jay encountered a sinister network known as 764. The network targeted vulnerable children, initially befriending them before coercing them into producing sexually explicit material and engaging in acts of violence against themselves or others.

Jay succumbed to the network's manipulation in January 2022, joining thousands of children worldwide who have fallen prey to 764.

The network, founded in 2020 by Bradley Cadenhead, a disaffected 15-year-old from Stephenville, Texas, operated on Discord. Cadenhead named the group after the first three digits of his postal code. He targeted isolated, socially awkward youth, offering them a sense of purpose and acceptance online. Dr Dale McKinley, an international analyst, stated that 764 primarily targeted disaffected youth, often resulting in blackmail, sexual coercion, and self-harm.

Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee explained that members of the network gained their victims' trust by building relationships through social media, gaming apps, and chat servers. Once trust was established, they coerced the children into sending explicit photos or videos, using the material to blackmail them into further acts. The videos and photos became currency within the network, shared to prove the victims' compliance and to threaten them into carrying out more violent acts.

The FBI classified individuals linked to 764 as nihilistic violent extremists, and the US government has been investigating over 350 people in the US for their alleged involvement in the network.